Rested Tadej Pogacar warms up for World Championships in Canada
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Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar competing during the 2025 Tour de France, which he eventually won.
PHOTO: AFP
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QUEBEC CITY – Tadej Pogacar says a 46-day break since his latest Tour de France triumph has left him rested and ready to launch his build-up to the world championships with two races in Canada.
The 26-year-old Slovenian crushed his rivals to collect a fourth Tour de France title, but opted out of the Vuelta a Espana to recover and will return to action in the Quebec Grand Prix on Sept 12 before tackling the Montreal Grand Prix two days later.
“It’s my first race back after the Tour, so I will have to see how my legs are turning,” he told reporters in Quebec on Sept 10, noting that late-season fatigue was nothing new.
“It’s like every year... It’s always difficult to be in good shape at the end of the season, but I have some motivation left for the six races I have left.
“I hope my peak will be at the world championships. The championships are the main goal of this part of the season,” added Pogacar, who will be defending his title in the world road race title in Rwanda on Sept 28.
He will also compete in the time trial at the world meet on Sept 21, when he hopes to challenge two-time defending champion Remco Evenepoel of Belgium.
“I trained quite a few trainings on the TT bike,” he said. “It was more than usual. We will see how it will go in the world championships... I always like the discipline, but you need to have a great day on the spot.”
Pogacar’s biggest challengers in Canada are expected to be Belgians Wout van Aert and Arnaud de Lie. While he has won twice in Montreal, in 2022 and 2024, he has never triumphed at the Quebec, where he finished seventh last season when he was reeled in by the peloton in the closing stages.
This year the roller-coaster finishes of recent editions have been replaced by a steady ascent of 2km before the finishing line.
“I think in general it can be easier, but the final sprint will be, I think, harder than the previous edition,” he said.
After the two Canadian classics and the world championships, Pogacar still has the European championships in France, where he will compete only in the Oct 5 road race, before wrapping up the season at the Tour of Lombardy a week later, which he has won for the last four years.
Meanwhile, an “extraordinary” security boost will accompany the final two stages of the Vuelta in the Madrid region, the authorities said, after pro-Palestinian protests rocked one of cycling’s biggest races.
The demonstrations, which have targeted the Israel-Premier Tech team over the war in Gaza, have impacted several stages of the 21-day race and cast doubt on the organisers’ ability to see it through to its completion.
The Spanish authorities in Madrid said in a statement that more than 400 extra civil guards will protect the penultimate stage on Sept 13 and 1,100 police officers will be deployed for the next day’s finale. AFP
